Monthly Archives: March 2012

Hunger is Not a Game

My 14-year-old daughter Hannah was upset at me for failing to read the book before seeing the movie. At 12:01 a.m. on Friday, I was one of the thousands of people who turned out to view The Hunger Games on its opening night. Hannah had been encouraging me to read the book for several months Read more…

Posted in Our Mission and Vision, Our Motivation, What We're Reading
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“The Hype is Long Over” – Microfinance CEOs Respond to Washington Post Article, “Microfinance Doesn’t End poverty, Despite All the Hype”

The following post was published today on the Center for Financial Inclusion’s blog. The Microfinance CEO Working Group consists of the CEOs of leading microfinance organizations ACCION, FINCA International, Freedom from Hunger, Grameen Foundation USA, , Pro Mujer, VisionFund International, and Women’s World Banking. In the post below, the CEOs respond to the recent Washington Read more…

Posted in Loans, Microinsurance, Our Leadership, Our Work, Savings, What We're Reading
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Meet Our Staff: A Closing Interview with AJ Renold as He Prepares to Leave Tanzania

AJ Renold, mountain trekker, pizza maker, kite surfer, manager of business development and donor relations for Opportunity International Tanzania, hails from Chicago, Ill. He joined Opportunity-US as an intern in their suburban Oak Brook headquarters in 2009. That summer, he helped plan and traveled on the first-ever Young Ambassadors Insight Trip to Tanzania. AJ quickly Read more…

Posted in Insight Trips, Where We Work, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
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A Photo Tour of Colombia & Nicaragua Insight Trip

In January we had the chance to visit Colombia and Nicaragua on one of our first Insight Trips of 2012. We could write pages and pages about the trip and all that happened, but sometimes, pictures just say things better than words. So here are a few pictures from the trip! We have more trips Read more…

Posted in Insight Trips, Loans, Rural Outreach, Where We Work
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Partnering with Nicaraguan Yucca Farmers to Increase Their Profits

A pungent, unfamiliar, almost rancid but still sweet, scent hit my nostrils: freshly ground yucca meets a growling grinder. Five men man the contraption: one filling the large funnel, one jamming a large stick into the funnel to feed the yucca chunks into the grinder, one scooping the pulp out of the bottom, one shoveling Read more…

Posted in Local Staffing, Our Work, Rural Outreach, Where We Work
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What We’re Reading: Top 10 Posts on International Women’s Day

As we close out the week, I’m reflecting on some of the articles published in honor of yesterday’s International Women’s Day. Here are just a few of the provocative, interesting, inspiring and even maddening(!) ones I encourage you to read or re-read, in no particular order… “What if Mark Zuckerberg Were Born a Girl in Read more…

Posted in Events, Rural Outreach, What We're Reading, Where We Work, Women's Opportunity Network
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Meet the Women of Opportunity

Today, on International Women’s Day,  the world comes together to celebrate the achievements, strength and rights of women. On this day, we can all take a few extra moments to see and feel the connections that exist in the community of women that contribute to Opportunity International. It is through these connections that our supporters, staff Read more…

Posted in Events, Local Staffing, Our Work, Women's Opportunity Network
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